Guest post by Mei Quan, Solomon Islands.
Our Archbishop serves up great homilies, and Sunday was no exception. Reflecting on the Gospel reading from Matthew 2:1-12, Archbishop Chris said,
“The wise men followed the Star of Bethlehem to get to Jesus.
What are you following that leads you to Jesus?”
Secondly,
“The wise men brought the baby Jesus gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh.
What are the gifts that you bring to Jesus?
One of the gifts that we can give is that of ourselves.
Our attendance at Mass and spending time with Jesus.”
I would like to expand on this, and say that it is oftentimes easier to give the gift of money and even service. Volunteering, doing a reading at Mass, altar serving, singing in the choir, etc. Certainly these are our gifts that we should share with our community and with God, but I believe that the hardest gift to give to God is that of OURSELVES.
How often do we say, “Here I am Lord, do with me what you will. I trust you Lord, here I am. Here are the beautiful parts of me, here are the ugly parts of me, here are the parts of me I am insecure about, here are the parts of me that I’m afraid if people see they won’t like me or love me. Here is all of me.” How often do we do that?
How often do we just sit in silence with the Lord? How often do we go to the Lord outside of the times when we are suffering, struggling or in pain? Do we go to Him in our times of happiness, or do we just forget Him or not prioritise Him? How many of us say, “I go to Mass on Sunday, I don’t need to go during the week” or “I work in Church Ministry during the week, I don’t want to have to go see Jesus on my Sunday too.” Even “I’m too busy to pray” or “I’m too busy to go to Mass.”
I go to Mass every Sunday (I didn’t always) and during the week if I can, BUT I STILL struggle with truly gifting God MY-SELF (every nitty-gritty, beautiful, broken and raw part of me). I have to make a conscious effort to do so, at Mass, in my private prayer and throughout the day. Otherwise, I’m just going through the motions. I don’t do it well and I certainly don’t do it perfectly, but I have to remind myself that done is better than perfect. Let that be your reminder too.
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Image: The Magi, Henry Siddons Mowbray (1915)
